Portable gantry crane



March 24, 1936. J, PALERMO PORTABLE GANTRY CRANE Filed March 16; 193

Joaeph PaZ r/m d Patented Mar. 24, 1936 1 Claim.

The invention relates to portable hoists and has particular reference to an improved gantry or bridge crane having few parts and which may be readily and quickly set up to span a railway track for lifting heavy objects such as castings,

truck frames, bolsters and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide a portable bridge crane of sturdy construction, which can be cheaply manufactured, and which will provide a clear unobstructed space between the side supports and overhead member to give the workmen ample room for the hoisting operations.

With these and various other objects in View, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawing and claim appended hereto.

In the drawing which illustrates an embodiment of the device and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts Figure 1 is an elevational view of the portable hoist constructed in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is an end view of the same;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view showing the connection of the overhead member With a side support;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 Of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a sectional View taken along line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a detail view of the wedge for joining the overhead member to the side supports; and

Figure '7 is a fragmentary elevational View of the socket structure for receiving the wedge.

Referring to the drawing, the portable hoist is shown as comprising side supports l0 and II formed of member l2, L-shaped in cross section,

and which are joined together at their upper end by the plate l3 and at their base by the tie rod M. The members l2 flare outwardly at the base to provide a firm and rigid support for the structure. For additionally strengthening the side supports the members l2 are reinforced at their base by the rods l5. Also the members are connected intermediate their height by the tie rod l6. Secured to the outside of each plate I3, substantially centrally of the plate, is a socket forming member I! designed to receive means on the overhead member to securely but detachably connect the member to the end supports respectively.

The overhead member is truss-shaped in formation, comprising an upper beam 20 and lower horizontally disposed members 2!, which latter are L-shaped in cross section, being spaced from each other as shown in Figure 4, and having connection as by welding at 22 to the ends of beam 28. Vertical and diagonal braces 23 join the 5 upper beam 20 to the members 2| at intermediate points. The members 2! provide the tracks for the movable carriages, comprising wheels 24 suitably journalled and connected by the axle 25 which suspends the hanger 26, the same passing 10 between the spaced members 2! and connecting with a hand hoist identified in its entirety by 21. The braces 23 connect with the horizontal beam members at points which divide the members into sections, any one or all of the sections being 15 adapted to receive a carriage which is therefore limited as to movement by the braces. This is desirable when handling heavy objects as the structure prevents the operator from inadvertently moving an object suspended from one car- 20 riage into contact with another suspended object, which would invariably result in damage and possibly injury to the operator. Formed integral with the beam 2!! and suitably secured to the ends of horizontal beams 2| are depending wedge- 5 shaped members 28, Figure 6, which taper in two directions by reason of the integral vertical rib 3G. The members ll form a socket designed to receive the wedges 28, thereby firmly uniting the overhead member with the respective side 0 supports. The construction is simple involving very few parts although providing a strong connection which operates to increase the security of the joint as the weight placed on the overhead member increases. 35 The hoist of the invention has been designed primarily for lifting the side frames of railway trucks to facilitate the application of new wheel and axle assemblies, although it will be understood that the same has universal application in 40 the lifting of heavy objects in machine shops, foundries and garages. The space between the side supports II! and H and below the overhead member is free of bracing and is therefore unobstructed to allow maximum freedom in the per- 45 forming of the hoisting operations. Also the side supports are connected by one tie rod l6 which is located well above the base to form a clear space for the removal of objects endwise of the crane. The side supports have a base of 50 considerable area and they support the gantry firmly on the ground preventing tilting thereof in either direction. In addition the structure can be readily knocked down simply by removing the Wedges from their sockets which discon- 55 nects the overhead member from the side supports and therefore the entire structure is portable, although requiring only a few minutes to reassemble.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiment of the device shown, which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation, as various and other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claim.

I claim:

A light weight portable gantry crane of knockdown construction comprising a pair of spaced side supports, each support being of triangular shape and including members flaring outwardly towards their base, means joining the upper end of the members and providing a socket, a tie rod connecting the members centrally thereof to provide an obstructed space for substantially the lower half of the support, an overhead member supported by said side supports and spanning the distance therebetween, wedge members depending from the ends of said overhead member and being received in said sockets and having a Wedging action therein for detachably joining the member to the side supports, said overhead member comprising a truss-shaped beam and lower spaced horizontal beams joined thereto by braces, and a track provided by said horizontal beams for supporting carriages for movement thereon.

JOSEPH PALERMO.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,034,920. March 24, 1936.

JOSEPH PALERMO.

It is hereby certified, that error appears in the printed epeeificatibr; ef the above numbered patent requiring correction as foll owsz Page 2', second column, line 5, in the claim, for "obstriicted" read unobstructed; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the reccrd of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 28th day of April A. D. 1936.

Leslie Frazer (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

